CHICAGO STORIES-February Musings

Blog readers might wonder why I sometimes provide a background explanation when I write about some seemingly obvious topic. That is because, somehow, I have people from all around the world who read my blog. I have 23 people from Canada, 22 from the Ukraine, 21 from Germany, 18 from Poland, 14 from France, 14 from the United Kingdom, 11 from Latvia, 8 from India and 7 from Singapore. How they found me I will never know.

DIBS

Abel Uribe, Chicago Tribune / February 15, 2011

Hence why I will explain that "dibs" is a Chicago tradition where people feel that if they clean the snow from a parking space on the street, they can “own” it even after they pull their car out of the spot, by putting lawn chairs, boxes or other flotsam and jettison in its place. I wrote about not liking “dibs” last December,  when I told the story of a neighborhood group called, “Chair Free Chicago.”

Now, the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation has announced that because the temperatures are rising and snow is melting, they are calling an end to “dibs” for now and residents need to remove the junk form the streets. A press release issued by Streets and Sanitation said, "Given this extended period of warmer weather, we are asking residents who have placed items in the street to save parking spaces to please begin removing those items. As snow melts, these remaining items add clutter to the public way." They also said they will start removing from the street any debris that remains.

Finally, the side-streets won’t look like Fred Sanford’s junk yard anymore. If it were only that easy to get rid of “junky” politicians with their bloated payrolls full of relatives and cronies. But I guess Chicago can only clean up one type of a mess at a time.


OPRAH BEHIND THE SCENES

My good friend, WLS radio personality Jake Hartford alerted me to a show on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) called, “25 Years Behind The Scenes.” Because Oprah feels the last year of her show is so incredibly important, she is sharing with viewers what happens “behind the scenes” of each show. I have never watched "The Oprah Show," but Jake assured me that “Behind The Scenes,” was must see TV. He was correct.
 Since the Oprah staff is editing the show, one would think that it would be total fluff, au contraire! Oprah without make-up is a scary sight! Watching the edited footage makes one wonder how incredible the unedited content must be. It is obvious that the staff is petrified of her and each of her pronouncements is treated like a ukase from the czar.

In a recent staff meeting, we were treated to a conversation that Oprah was having with senior producers about how she never has a bowel movement in a public bathroom. She spoke of how she “really had to go,” the other day when she was at her health club and then stayed in the stall until after a janitor left the facility because she did not want the worker to know what she had been doing. I am not making this up. Oprah is so petrified that the world would realize that she defecates like “regular people,” she controls her bowel movements to only occur when she is at home. What power she has over her body. No wonder she is such a big star.


NATURAL GAS

People’s Gas and North Shore Gas, which are subsidiaries of Integrys Energy Group Inc., are asking for a rate hike even though, just last year, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved a rate hike for the companies that averaged between $48-$66/year per customer.


Now, Peoples Gas is proposing a rate hike that would add about $108/year to a typical small residential customer's bill and North Shore Gas is seeking a rate adjustment that would mean a $36/year increase for the typical customer. The increase applies only to the delivery charge, with taxes and the cost of natural gas remaining the same, the utility said in a statement. Delivery costs represent about 40 percent of a Peoples Gas customer's bill. North Shore Gas customers' delivery costs amount to about 30 percent of their bill.

Will Evans Jr., president of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, said, “We understand many of our customers are struggling with rising costs just as our company is grappling with the ever-increasing costs of doing business. The proposed rate adjustment we are seeking for the company is vital in order to access the capital necessary to continue investing in the safety and reliability of its infrastructure."

I don’t know anything about natural gas, so maybe the companies need the rate hike. But I don’t understand the difference in the proposed rate hikes. If the same company owns both smaller gas companies, why wouldn’t the rate hike be the same across the board? Why would People Gas customers have to pay almost three times as much for the increase than North Shore Gas customers? Maybe like Oprah they only will expel their natural gas at home so it will cost more then expelling just anywhere!

WHY ANNOUNCE ON SUNDAY NIGHT?

Sunday night at 10:22 p.m., Cheryl L. Hyman, Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, sent out an e-mail to faculty announcing that she is recommending the appointment of Donald J. Laackman as the next President of Harold Washington College. A press release was sent out also on the PR Newswire. I don’t know Laackman, but he has great credentials. What I am suspicious of is why send out an important announcement of a new President on the Sunday night before a holiday and two days before the Mayoral election? Shouldn’t the new Mayor have any input on the new President?

The press release also contained the statement, “The City Colleges of Chicago is in the midst of a Reinvention, launched by Chancellor Cheryl Hyman shortly after her appointment by Mayor Richard M. Daley in March 2010.” Proves my point. The new Mayor should be part of the decision process. I guess Hyman jumped the gun so she could have the glory of the appointment.